Tabbouleh and Turbo Cider

Thank God it's Friday! I reach the weekend like a downed surfer paddling frantically towards the shark barrier. The weather is still being seasonal, i.e. cool and showery. I notice it in the plants and seedlings -- they're not doing an awful lot. Normally, by this point, our back garden beds would be teeming with accidental tomato seedlings but it's obvious that they like neither the cold nor the wet. 

However, there has been movement in the two greenhouses, I noticed on my dusk walkaround! The kales, broccoli and cauliflowers are all well on their way, and on their second set of leaves. The seeds of Lidl-bought tomato "Hildares" have finally sprouted in the greenhouse. My sprouting broccoli seedlings from the 8th April sowing jolly have emerged. The sweet peas are poking out and the China asters have also finally woken up. The phlox seems to be moving too. Only the zinnias are still dormant, apart from maybe one pot where I think they've stirred. 

I'm in Ready-Steady-Cook mode. Normally, after a week like ours, I feel a strong temptation to blow £££ on a takeaway and stay with my backside glued to the sofa. But today is different. I have, surprisingly, some energy left and announce to OH that I'll be making tabbouleh out of couscous and frozen allotment produce plus whatever is about to be composted from the fruit and veg basket. OH feels motivated too: he volunteers to cook a broad bean hummus. Word up!

So this is what we made:

The tabbouleh consists of couscous with butter (for taste), the juice of one elderly lime plus olive oil. Throw in 1 mid-size onion, cut finely, plus 3 cloves of garlic, mashed with salt, and 3 big handfuls of chopped allotment parsley from the freezer. Chopped and added 3 tomatoes plus 2 handfuls of fresh mint from the back garden. And roasted pine nuts. SERIOUSLY nice.

OH's broad bean hummus recipe:

- boil a bag of broad beans from the freezer for 10 minutes.
- skin the beans and send them through the machine, along with more garlic.
- they need a bit of salt and olive oil and the juice of one lemon

This hummus is incredibly green.  It goes very well with the tabbouleh, instead of meat or fish. I really wasn't sure about this recipe at first but OH has surpassed himself.

Fired up by our unexpected culinary energy, OH releases his turbo cider. He brewed the batch from a gallon of Lidl Vitafit clear apple juice on 14 March, using young cider yeast, 150g additional sugar and some strong tea (for the tannin). It finished fermenting on 7 April and was bottled that day.

Having matured for 3 weeks, "V150" is now a mild-flavoured, moderately sparkling cider. It's also pretty potent -- one glass is enough for me to doze through Have I Got News For You without swearing at the telly.

Aldi has clear apple juice on for 56p a litre. I think we're going shopping tomorrow.